Moeen announced he would be leaving domestic cricket behind after featuring for Birmingham Bears last summer.
He ended his international career the previous year after playing 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20 internationals, and featuring in three Ashes series.
Following England’s recent 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, the team’s culture again made headlines, with the England and Wales Cricket Board pledging to investigate reports of players drinking excessively.
A devout Muslim, Moeen does not drink alcohol. From a sporting perspective, he says drinking a day or two before a match will have an impact on a player’s performance.
“I think when you’re at the elite level things have to be proper and if you’re trying to perform at the highest level then drinking is a bigger issue,” Moeen said.
“I think there should be something in place… I know it happens in football, guys hardly drink before the game, I think it will be the same in cricket within four or five years.”
Moeen, who won two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings and captained Worcestershire to their first Blast triumph in 2018, also skippered Birmingham Phoenix to the final of the inaugural Hundred tournament.
He knows his latest move might surprise some people.
“There might be some fans disappointed at signing a 38-year-old, but I’m there to do a job and hopefully win silverware,” he said.
“And to play at Headingley, which is such an iconic ground, is one of the main reasons I signed for Yorkshire. I know this might be the last two or three years of my career and I want to win as much as I can.”
The move will also see Moeen team up with England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook, the Yorkshire batsman who has been making headlines on and off the pitch.
Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer in an altercation during England’s tour of New Zealand before the Ashes. The incident and a fine imposed on Brook only came to light more than two months after the event.
More positively, Brook hit a rapid century for England on Tuesday in their victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo to secure a 2-1 ODI series win.
“I think he has done a good job. On and off the field is something everybody goes through, the greatest players have been through it, it’s how you learn and how you come back from it,” Moeen said.
“Mistakes can happen, it was just highlighted a lot more because we lost the Ashes. I think he will be fine, and I think he’ll learn a lot.”
Moeen will join his new side in May before their first T20 match against Nottinghamshire, and there is an option to extend his contract for 2027.
Yorkshire, who have never won the T20 Blast, have also signed Afghanistan’s Naveen Ul-Haq and Australian fast bowler AJ Tye and Netherlands all-rounder Logan van Beek for the forthcoming campaign.
Moeen said of his future: “I have got one eye on what I want to do after cricket. I want to go straight into coaching.
“While I’m at Yorkshire I want to help as much as I can and if that means doing an academy session I’ll be more than happy to help and pass on my knowledge of the game.”
Danes marched in protest of Trump’s NATO comments, Greenland efforts
Danish veterans gather for a silent march to the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen on Saturday to express dissatisfaction with President Trump’s statements about NATO soldiers in Afghanistan. Photo by EPA/Emil Nicolai Helms
Jan. 31 (UPI) — Danish military veterans and others staged a protest march against U.S. President Donald Trump‘s recent comments regarding NATO members and Greenland.
Trump criticized the amount of support the United States received from NATO allies during recent conflicts, and many veterans and others in Denmark took to the streets on Saturday to show their displeasure.
One protester, Danish Lance Cpl. Soren Teigen, said only the president is responsible for the comments.
“I don’t blame American soldiers in any way — we’ve fought side by side, and we still do,” Teigen told The New York Times. “But when the president says something like this, of course it hurts.”
Trump earlier accused NATO allies of shying away from fighting after sending their troops to Afghanistan but allegedly keeping them away from the front lines.
Officials with Danish Veterans & Veteran Support took exception to the president’s comments.
“Denmark has always stood side by side with the USA, and we have shown up in the world’s crisis zones when the USA has asked us to,” the group said in a prepared statement.
“We feel let down and ridiculed by the Trump administration, which is deliberately disregarding Denmark’s combat side by side with the USA,” it added.
Many veterans and other Danes also are unhappy with the president’s efforts to annex or otherwise control Greenland.
Hundreds of Danish military veterans on Saturday quietly marched to outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, where some placed 44 small Danish flags in planters located nearby.
The flags are to commemorate the 44 Danish military personnel who died in Afghanistan.
U.S. Embassy staff members were unaware of the flags’ meaning and initially removed them, which further upset many Danes.
Upon learning what the flags represented, the embassy staff left alone any that remained or were replaced.
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Moeen Ali joins Yorkshire for T20 Blast as he shelves retirement plan and lauds anti-racism efforts
Moeen announced he would be leaving domestic cricket behind after featuring for Birmingham Bears last summer.
He ended his international career the previous year after playing 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20 internationals, and featuring in three Ashes series.
Following England’s recent 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia, the team’s culture again made headlines, with the England and Wales Cricket Board pledging to investigate reports of players drinking excessively.
A devout Muslim, Moeen does not drink alcohol. From a sporting perspective, he says drinking a day or two before a match will have an impact on a player’s performance.
“I think when you’re at the elite level things have to be proper and if you’re trying to perform at the highest level then drinking is a bigger issue,” Moeen said.
“I think there should be something in place… I know it happens in football, guys hardly drink before the game, I think it will be the same in cricket within four or five years.”
Moeen, who won two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings and captained Worcestershire to their first Blast triumph in 2018, also skippered Birmingham Phoenix to the final of the inaugural Hundred tournament.
He knows his latest move might surprise some people.
“There might be some fans disappointed at signing a 38-year-old, but I’m there to do a job and hopefully win silverware,” he said.
“And to play at Headingley, which is such an iconic ground, is one of the main reasons I signed for Yorkshire. I know this might be the last two or three years of my career and I want to win as much as I can.”
The move will also see Moeen team up with England’s white-ball captain Harry Brook, the Yorkshire batsman who has been making headlines on and off the pitch.
Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer in an altercation during England’s tour of New Zealand before the Ashes. The incident and a fine imposed on Brook only came to light more than two months after the event.
More positively, Brook hit a rapid century for England on Tuesday in their victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo to secure a 2-1 ODI series win.
“I think he has done a good job. On and off the field is something everybody goes through, the greatest players have been through it, it’s how you learn and how you come back from it,” Moeen said.
“Mistakes can happen, it was just highlighted a lot more because we lost the Ashes. I think he will be fine, and I think he’ll learn a lot.”
Moeen will join his new side in May before their first T20 match against Nottinghamshire, and there is an option to extend his contract for 2027.
Yorkshire, who have never won the T20 Blast, have also signed Afghanistan’s Naveen Ul-Haq and Australian fast bowler AJ Tye and Netherlands all-rounder Logan van Beek for the forthcoming campaign.
Moeen said of his future: “I have got one eye on what I want to do after cricket. I want to go straight into coaching.
“While I’m at Yorkshire I want to help as much as I can and if that means doing an academy session I’ll be more than happy to help and pass on my knowledge of the game.”
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